Looking for Love? Top Summer Movies to Watch

We all look forward to summer - the long days, the sunny skies, and the chance of a summer fling of course. And while it's great to be outside - watching the sunset, enjoying barbeque, or taking a long bike ride along the beach - sometimes relaxing indoors and watching a movie can inspire a little romance in your life.

Looking for a good summer movie list - both quirky and soul-satisfying? Check out some of these:

500 Days of Summer - this romantic comedy shows the heady beginning to the nostalgic end of a 500-day relationship, and how what we imagined doesn't always come to pass. Before you roll your eyes - this isn't a depressing flick, but inspirational. It shows us how relationships can change us, and make us more aware of who we are.

Amelie - a film that was especially moving to me since I was a shy girl who had to break out of my shell to date. Amelie is a woman in France who creates a visually appealing world of her own, trying to bring happiness to others without being seen, and is especially enamored with a certain man she's never met.

Midnight in Paris - a Woody Allen film set in Paris instead of New York. This heartening flick follows an engaged yet uninspired writer as he travels back to the city's artistic scene in the 1920's to find his real passion.

Love, Actually - I'm a sucker for this film, mostly because it starts off with a tear-jerking scene where people of all nationalities embrace in airports as they reunite with family and friends. But then it leads us through several story lines involving the complications of love, some with more ambiguous endings than others, but all with one over-riding thing: love is, in the end, all around us - there for the taking.

Water for Elephants - Admittedly, the book is better, but who can resist this love-against-all-odds tale set in a traveling circus in the 1930's? It's a visually stunning film, and its lessons on love and perseverance are timeless.

The Princess Bride - a classic and one of my all-time favorite love stories, mostly because the movie is, even twenty-five years later, ridiculously funny. There's nothing traditional about this classic love story between Princess Buttercup and her former servant Wesley. Enjoy it again.

Under the Tuscan Sun - This film takes place in Italy at some of the most picturesque sights so it's stunning to watch. It follows a divorcee as she reclaims her life by buying a dilapidated villa and setting out to renovate it, finding her own love in the process.

Enjoy!